Bananas are best eaten with friends
by csiFREAK24
Summary: A family of four is murdered and Gregs cousin is a suspect. Will they clear her name or is Emily Sanders guilty of murder? Don't ask about the title it will have relavence in the end, and it was the first thing my brother said when I asked him.
1. Chapter 1

Screams echoed in the dark, starless night

Screams echoed in the dark, starless night. An eighteen -year-old boy sits bolt upright in his bed, the horrible screams still ringing in his ears. Through his open window he can hear terrible noises from the house across the street.

_Oh, no! What's happening to the Hanford's? _ The boy thought to himself worriedly.

Realization hit him, as a cold fear seeps into his chest.

_It's Emily's night to baby-sit them, what will I do without my Emily, Belle and Katie? Oh god no! _ The boy suddenly realizes that no good will come from worrying, he had to do something. He quickly called the police.

"Hello, can I help you?" the operator asked.

"Hi, yes you can. My name is Aidan Lyndon and I think something bad has happened to my neighbors," he said desperately.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I heard screams from their house, and it's my friends night to baby-sit, and I don't know if she's still there but you have to hurry something bad has happened I can tell," he said pleadingly.

"Ok, just stay calm sir. Tell me yours and your neighbor's street addresses so we can get over there right away. How old are you sir?"

"I'm eighteen, and I live on 24 John Rizzo Circle, in Henderson and my neighbors, the Hanford's, live on 27 John Rizzo," he told her.

"Ok, be ready for the police, do not enter the house until we have cleared it."

"Ok, thank you ma'm so much."

A few minutes later squad cars came, sirens blaring, pulling up in front of the Hanford's house. Detective Sofia Curtis got out of a car, followed quickly by Jim Brass. The police hurried in and found nobody there, except the lifeless bodies of the Hanford family.

They ran out yelling, "We need CSI, and soon! There are bodies in there, we didn't touch them but it looks like two young girls and a husband and wife."

"Ok, thanks," Brass said to the officer in charge.

"Who called it in?" Sofia asked Brass.

"Neighbor, kid he's only eighteen. Operator said he sounded afraid. Talked about his friend, the babysitter," He said to Sofia. Then to the officer asked, "Was there another body?"

"No, just those four."

"Looks like we have a suspect then," He stated grimly.


	2. Chapter 2

As he said this, the boy came running out of his house anxiously

As he said this, the boy came running out of his house anxiously. He was tall, brown haired, and rather cute, Sofia noticed looking at him.

_I'll bet he's got girls swooning all over him in school_, She thought to herself.

"Can I help you?" Brass asked irritably.

"Yea, I called in, oh, ten minutes ago, I heard screams from my neighbors house and I got scared. Mr. And Mrs. Hanford have two daughters, Belle who is four, and seven year old Katie. My friend baby-sits for them all the time and I was worried about what happened and didn't know if she or they got hurt or, or," He said frantically.

"Ok, Ok, calm down buddy," Brass said to him, taking him by the arm. "Lets go over here and you can tell me all about it slowly so we can find out who did this."

The boy nodded taking a deep breath and followed Brass under the streetlights.

Sofia called Grissom, "Hey Grissom, we got four murdered in Henderson, neighbor kid called it in, Brass is talking to him. We already have a suspect, get your whole team over here, it looks like a long night," she told him.

"Ok we are on our way," Grissom told her.

The CSI team arrived, Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Sara, Nick, and the newest CSI, Greg.

"Greg and Nick take perimeter, Sara Warrick, Catherine and I will take each body, any questions?" Grissom asked his dedicated team.

They shook their heads no and began to work.

"I'll take the backyard," an eager Greg told Nick. It was one of his first cases as a CSI and wanted to prove that he could do a good job.

"Go right ahead," Nick told him.

Greg left to go process the backyard, while Nick started to document the front yard; a hysterical barefoot girl that he immediately recognized as Emily Sanders came running down the street.

She ducked under the crime scene tape, and was nabbed by officer O'Riley who picked her up and dragged her out of the scene.

"Put me down you creep!" she screamed fighting to get free. "Put me down I tell you! What happened?" she beat at O'Riley with her fists as he threw her over his shoulder to take her to the police car.

Greg heard the commotion, but ignored it thinking it was just some crazy drugged up neighbor wanting some information. Trivial things like these couldn't distract him, he told himself.

Nick seeing as the girl wasn't a threat; he knew her well told the officer, "Turn her loose O'Riley."

O'Riley obliged, and put her down.

"Emily, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Nick asked her.

"I heard the sirens and I was worried something happened to people on the street. Two of my best friends Aidan and Molly live on this street and the kids I baby-sit for live here. So I ran as fast as I could here," She told Nick breathlessly.

"Do your parents know you're here?"

"Yea, I told my mom as I was running out that something happened and that I was going to find out what, and I would call her later, she trusts me, I'm a smart girl."

Brass walked up with Aiden, telling Nick, "We have a suspect."

"We do?" Nick asked him.

Just as Aidan asked, "You do?"

"Yes, the babysitter."

"Excuse me, but _I'm the_ babysitter," Emily said pointing to herself.

"Now will somebody tell me what the heck is going on?"

"Get Greg," Brass said. "He's off the case."

Nick sighed and obliged, calling to Greg, "Greg get in the front yard, and hurry."

Greg jogged over and stopped short seeing his younger cousin in only pajamas, no shoes, standing there, glaring at Brass.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Em, I hate to tell you this but Belle and Katie were murdered," Aiden told his girlfriend. And yes girlfriend. Their relationship was a secret from Greg who would flip out if they told him.

"What are you serious? Is this some kind of sick joke? Because its not funny!" she said, desperately looking from face to face and seeing the truth.

"Oh god no!" she cried and burst into tears, falling to the ground sobbing.

"Either she's a really good actress, or she isn't a suspect," Brass said.

"But we are still going to have to take her in for questioning," He told Greg grimly.

"Unless we can clear her, your off the case, Sanders. You want to take her to the station?"

"Yea, good idea. Nick can you finish processing and tell Grissom where I am and what happened?"

"Sure Greggo. And Brass, take the other kid too, you know get his statement," Nick said.

Greg knelt down next to his sobbing cousin and gently helped her up. "Come on Em, lets go."

She nodded, still crying and got up and followed Greg to his Denali.


	3. Chapter 3

Ages later it seemed

Ages later it seemed. She sat in the interrogation room, facing the expressionless Captain Brass, with her tear stained cheeks. Greg wanted to be in there with her, but she couldn't do it. The guilt was just too much. If she hadn't shown up, he would still be working the case. The case he couldn't wait for, the one where he could prove himself.

_Oh god what am I thinking? _She thought miserably to herself.

_Katie, and Belle, they are dead, those beautiful little girls who I love so much, are dead and are never coming back and all I can think about is Greg? _She started to cry once again, emotions that were once in denial, opened up again.

Brass sighed, hoping he could interview her, but he was stuck babysitting until she would stop crying. This irritated him a lot, he hated interviewing kids, he didn't understand them one bit.

Emily, hearing the sigh, glared at Brass through the tears gliding silently down her cheeks.

"Shall we begin then?"  
She sighed, fighting the tears and nodded.

"So, you babysat last night, is that correct?"

"Yes, from six to eleven thirty. I got there, made macaroni and cheese for them, got them ready for bed, watched Veggie Tales with them, they colored for a little while, and they went to bed around seven thirty, eight o clock."

"Ok, then what did you do?"

"I finished my homework and read _Harry Potter_, I check on them every fifteen minutes, whenever I baby-sit just to make sure they are ok and not having nightmares. They were fine, each time. "

"What time did the Hanford's get home?"

"Around eleven fifteen. They paid me thirty dollars and Mrs. Hanford drove me home."

At this point Nick walked in, "Emily, we need your DNA, and I don't think a warrant is necessary, so are you willing to let me take your fingerprints and do a cheek swab?"

"Sure, go ahead," She told Nick quietly.

He swabbed her cheek with a cotton swab, and gently pressed her fingerprints into the ink and put them on a card. Once he finished he said, "All set."

"Run the prints against the ones at the scene and test her DNA against the fibers at the house," Brass told him.

"So how long have you been babysitting for Katie and Belle?" He asked her.

"Since I was eleven."

"Long time. Is Katie and Belle their nicknames?"

"Yea, Katie is short for Kaitlyn and Belle is short for Isabelle."

" I see, now did you enjoy babysitting Katie and Belle? Or were they the type of kids who you couldn't wait to shove them to bed because they were so annoying?"

"What?" Emily gasped; shocked that he would suggest such a thing. "Of course not they were the sweetest kids ever."

"Did you kill them?"

"No, how could I do that? I loved these kids so much you have no idea. I taught Belle how to read and she's only four, and I taught Katie how to ride a two-wheeler. You may not care but that's important to them. And to me," She said tears escaping her eyes.

Nick came back and handed Brass a sheet of paper.

"If you didn't kill them, then why is your hair on both their pillows? And your fingerprints all over the house?" Brass said angrily.

"Because I'm the babysitter," She told him. "How did you ever make detective?" She scoffed at him. "When you've spent the last hour interrogating me and you know the fact that I've been babysitting them for the past three years and all you can ask is why my prints are in the house?" she said getting louder and louder with each word.

"I know you want to catch the killer and put the right person in jail, and I respect that, but you guys don't give a damn about who you affect in the process. You accuse innocent people and then realize that they were innocent and all you say is 'Oh, well, look at that, they were innocent, it doesn't matter that they are emotionally scarred from the process or that we spent time interrogating them when the real killer could be hiding in wait of another victim!'" She yelled at him.

Nick hurried in on a surprised Brass and said, "I'll take over from here."

Brass nodded in relief.

Nick took Brass' now vacant seat and said, "can you just explain to me about your hair on the pillows," he said it softly, as not to upset the fiery seventeen year old.

"Yea. I check on them every fifteen minutes. And sometimes they have nightmares so they ask me to lie down in bed with them until they fall asleep. It gives them comfort to just curl up on my chest and forget their nightmares. It happens every once in a while."

"You really loved them huh?"

"Yea," she said choking up, and burst into tears.

Nick looked sadly at the poor girl, not wanting to upset her and said, "Sweetie do you want to take a break for a little bit and we can finish later?"

"Yea, thank you," She said smiling through her tears.


	4. Chapter 4

They got up and left the interrogation room

They got up and left the interrogation room. Nick took her to the break room where he told her to rest for a little bit and that they could finish later.

Greg, who did not want to watch his cousin get interrogated, went to the A/V room to see what Archie was up to.

Archie, attempting to make the quality of some videos better, was beginning to get rather frustrated with Greg.

Greg, nervous about his cousin was pacing the room while running his fingers through his already wildly spiky hair.

"Will you stop doing that?" Archie asked him.

"What?"

"Pacing like that. It's driving me crazy. Just go see if they are done with her."

"Ok, I'll do that." And with that Greg hurried off.

He found Brass talking to Sara in the hallway, and stopped to ask him where his cousin got to.

"Brass," he called. "Where's Emily?"

"Oh, Nick stepped in to talk to her. I couldn't handle her. That girls got sass."

"Oh, believe me, I know."

Just then Nick walked by.

"I thought you were with Emily?" Greg asked him.

"Oh, yea she's in the break room with Sofia. I gave her a break because she was really torn up. You might want to go talk to her," Nick told him.

"Ok, thanks Nick," Greg said and walked to the break room.

Emily looked exhausted, pale and just emotionally drained. She was shivering slightly and when she saw Greg she gave him a half smile.

"Hey shorty. You cold?" He asked her.

"A little," she answered back.

"You miss them, huh?"

"Yeah," she said looking older than her seventeen years.

"Hey you want a sweatshirt? I have an extra one in my locker."

"Yeah, that'd be great thanks."

He left to go to his locker and Sofia studied the girl inconspicuously. She looked like the pressures of life had finally run her down, quite unlike the fiery girl who had mouthed off to Brass in the interrogation room. Sofia was surprised, and admired the girl for standing up for herself. She was respectful, but knew when to draw the line.

Greg came back with his UNLV sweatshirt and gave it to his cousin and sat down next to her on the couch. She laid her head on his shoulder and fell quickly asleep as Greg stroked her tangled blond curls.

"I like this kid," Sofia told him.

"So do I," whispered Greg, smirking watching his cousin sleep peacefully in the too big sweatshirt.


	5. Chapter 5

"Good news, Greg," Brass said walking into the break room

"Good news, Greg," Brass said walking into the break room. "We found unknown fingerprints on the knives that were used to kill the family. And according to Emily she didn't touch any of the knives ever and her fingerprints weren't on any of them. She's not a suspect anymore," He told Greg, smiling at Emily who was sleeping next to him.

"That's great, anything else?" Greg asked him.

"Unknown male DNA at the scene, not the fathers or the neighbors."

Emily sat up and blinked dazedly and said, "What's going on?"

"Your no longer a suspect," Greg told her.

"That's great," she said and dropped back into sleep.

All of a sudden a frantic women ran in with her young son in tow.

"Can I help you?" Brass asked her.

"What happened to my sister? I got a call from the police this morning. Terra Hanford was my sister!" she cried.

Emily woke up to the cries and said, "Mrs. Anson?" And stood up to embrace the women.

Emily often babysat for Mrs. Anson, and loved her like a second mother.

Mrs. Anson pulled away and gently wiped Emily's tears of her cheeks.

The young boy ran up to Emily and hugged her hard from behind.

"Oof!" she exclaimed as the boy knocked the breath out of her.

"Hey, Russ!"

"Hey Emily," the little boy said sadly. His name was Russell Anson and was eight and loved being babysat by Emily.

"They're dead aren't they?" Russ asked Emily solemnly.

She knelt down to be eye level with him, and said, "Yea Russ, they are."

The little boy burst into tears as Emily held him closely.

Brass looked very surprised at the show of compassion. She was such a complex individual, fiery and defensive one minute, and sad and concerned the next.

"Trust me Mrs. Anson, we'll find out who did this," Greg told the women.

(A/N: Should I continue or just leave it at this? Let me know! I will have another chapter explaining the bananas, but should they solve the case or should I leave it hanging?)


	6. Chapter 6

A few hours later Sofia was sitting in the break room eating a banana

A few hours later Sofia was sitting in the break room eating a banana. Nick walked in, grabbed himself a banana and sat down next to her.

"You know, I like bananas," he said conversationally.

"Me too," said Sofia. "They taste good, they're healthy," she continued.

"And they don't get your hands dirty," laughed Nick. "And there's so many ways to eat them," he added, pleased that they were talking to each other. He had a huge crush on her but didn't have the guts to tell her.

"But bananas are best eaten with friends, I think," Sofia said smiling at Nick.

He grinned back, and they sat in contented silence for a while.

Nick turned his gaze to Emily, who was asleep on the couch.

"It's hard," he pondered.

"What is?" asked a concerned Sofia.

"Seeing someone so cheerful," he said gesturing to Emily's sleeping form.

"Being torn apart by angst like that."

"Yea, I've barley seen her without a smile on her face, or not ready with some funny comeback to cheer someone up," said Sofia.

They slowly fell back into normal conversation, and did not notice that Emily had woken up.

She lay on the couch reflecting on the relationship Nick and Sofia shared.

_They are the best couple,_ she thought happily to herself. _And they clearly like each other. Sofia's got her flirty face on! _She thought muffling her laughter. _And they are both afraid of taking it to the next level, maybe I can fix that, _she thought smiling to herself.

Nick got up and said goodbye to Sofia and she looked regretful that he had to leave.

"Hi Sofia," Emily said getting up.

"Hi sunshine," Sofia said to the girl. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yea. What time is it?"

"Five in the morning."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"Where are Greg and Nick and everyone else?"

"Well, I know Nick and Greg are back at the house collecting more evidence, Warrick and Grissom, are let me see, talking to the neighbors, and Catherine is with Archie and they are looking at some home movies of the family, to try and identify some harmful people."

"I could help with that," Emily told Sofia.

"Ok, I'll phone Archie for you."

"Ok thanks. You really like him don't you?"

"Who? Archie?" Sofia laughed.

"No, Nick," she said with a knowing expression on her face.

"I woke up like ten minutes before he left. You like him, I can see it."

"No, I don't. You have no idea what you are talking about," Sofia said firmly.

"Ok then, whatever you say. But for what it's worth, he likes you too."

Sofia blushed and Emily grinned knowingly.

"I'm going to go find Archie," and with that she left leaving a confused Sofia in her wake.


End file.
